Browse Historical Events by Day: What Happened on August 20th?

Cleopatra VII, the last ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt, kills herself on either 10 or 12 August, in Alexandria, when she was 39 years old, following the defeat of her forces against Octavian, the future first emperor of Rome. According to popular belief, she died by allowing an Egyptian cobra to bite her, but others believe she either poisoned herself or was murdered. The location of Cleopatra's tomb is unknown. According to historians Suetonius and Plutarch, the Roman leader Octavian permitted their burial together after he had defeated them. Mark Antony, had stabbed himself with a sword, a few days before on August 1.

The Siege of Acre ends, resulting in the fall of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and the complete expulsion of European Christian forces from the Holy Land.

First enslaved Africans arrive in Virginia; Two English pirate ships, the Treasurer and White Lion. each carrying 20-30 African slaves land in the Jamestown colony within four days of each other. The slaves had been taken from a Portuguese slave ship, the San Juan Bautista, carrying 350 African slaves in route to Veracruz, Mexico.

Virginia’s first enslaved people spoke Bantu languages, and their homelands were the kingdoms of Ndongo and Kongo. They are the first recorded Africans to arrive in England's mainland American colonies. marking the beginning of what evolved into a legalized system of slavery that lasted two and a half centuries. More

President Johnson issued a proclamation announcing the end of the American Civil War: "And I do further proclaim that the said insurrection is at an end and that peace, order, tranquility, and civil authority now exists in and throughout the whole of the United States of America." The proclamation  officially closed a costly, bloody, and deadly chapter in its nation's history that started at Fort Sumter several years and incurred the loss of 620,000 Union and Confederate soldiers. More

A telegram reading “This message sent around the world” is sent by the New York Times to test how fast a commercial message could be sent around the world. it traveled over 28,000 miles and was relayed by 16 different operators. It arrived back at The Times only 16.5 minutes later. The building where the message originated is now called One Times Square and is best known for where the ball drops on New Year’s Eve. More

The Soviet Union led Warsaw Pact troops invade Czechoslovakia to crack down on reformist trends in Prague. Although the Soviet Union's action successfully halted the pace of reform in Czechoslovakia, it had unintended consequences for the unity of the communist bloc. More